Longtime Coming, WORTH IT!. . .
Achis | Kingston, JA/Philipsburg, SxM | 12/18/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I received Elijah Prophet's King of Kings quite unexpectedly. Despite being an established singer in Jamaica for over a decade and a proven singer, songwriter and performer, King of Kings would be Prophet's debut album. Its almost a shame that a notoriously wicked wicked artist and vibesman would have to wait for such a long period, and also seek out a label based in Germany, especially considring the current roots-swing that is goig on in Jamaica at this point, but Prophet has taken full advantage of that period of 'gestation' (a BIG LONG gestation) as in King of Kings he has dropped what is probably the single most impressive reggae debut of 2006.
German label Pow Pow which came from Pow Pow Sound, has made quite a name for themselves in recent years. Besides creating some of the nicest roots riddims out of Europe (i.e. the Blaze and the MASSIVE Superior), where the competition has been growing and growing with nice roots labels emerging by the year; they have also voiced some of the finest roots and dancehall talents JA has to offer. The result is a very respected name in reggae and their decision to make their long awaited artist studio album debut, the long awaited studio album debut of Elijah Prophet is nothing short of brilliant.
Elijah Prophet's style is one I always described as being a little more uptempo, more matured and less gifted version of Jah Cure (all singers anywhere can only HOPE to be called 'less gifted' than the martian voiced Cure). And the first time I actually heard him, I was surprised that he had not been a bigger name that he had been, but instead, after serving an apprenticeship for the late legendary Garnett Silk, he had paid an equal ammount of attention to his songwriting and penned tunes for some of the bigger name in reggae. After returning strictly to writing for himself, he went the route of so many of our under-appreciated roots singers and began touring the European scene almost exclusively (thus the German link).
The German link has produced this fine fine roots album, King of Kings! Of course in honor of His Imperial Majesty, the album finds Pow Pow laying the foundation for some of the best roots tracks I've heard in all of 2006. It also makes it quite difficult to choose a favorite tune! For the moment at least, I'm going with the BEAUTIFUL One & All. The Sav La Mar native creates a marvelous vibes on the tune and is more aggressive than on the majority of the balance of the album.
Definitely give massive spins to the rest of the album as well. Check the title track, over Pow Pow's biggest score to date, the heavy Superior riddim. So named after Gentleman's hit of the same name, the wonderful one drop created by the drum and horn driven riddim combined with Prophet's top notch lyrics make it easy to see why the tune was chosen as the title track without a doubt. Also really really big here is the opener Piece of Ganja, a well powerful herbalist track, which somewhat reminds me of Perfect's Locked Me Up, perhaps even outdoing the St Ann's chanter (BIG UP ST ANN'S!).
Also need to check out Back For Good over Pow Pow's Blaze riddim (the 'bed' which Richie Spice's huge Blood Again sleeps in). Always love to see different takes on the top riddims and Prophet chose to create a pretty fierce love tune over the riddim and scores one of the highest points on the Blaze. Check the almost criminally beautiful Mother Nature which sports probably the finest hook on King of Kings. Also LOVVVVVVVVVVE Nah Tek no Talk, a big and vibrant sounding one drop which I imagine Prophet mashes up in live performance. Check the sole combination here, Sensi fi Bun with fine dub poet DYCR over the 1st Sight riddim, always love to see DYCR combinations with artists, the contrasting styles is always very interesting with his super on point aggressiveness and the laid back riddim with cool Elijah Prophet's vocals make the tune a definite must hear.
But don't let those recommendations keep you from the rest of the album, I gave it 5 stars, all the tunes here are worth several listenings (and I gotta recommend the bouncy and almost ska-like Music is Life).
Overall, of course I'm recommending Elijah Prophet's King of Kings as one of the bigger roots pieces of the year. I definitely would hate to see a similarly talented artist come around and have to wait so long for a debut (although it almost pretty REGULARLY occurs with roots singers), but in this case, it seems Prophet waited for just the right moment. He joins such fine singers as Mark Wonder and Prince Theo as artists in the prime of their careers who have to leave Jamaica for Europe (and several more as well) to gain a proper respect for the serious vibes they produce. I want EM ALL to COME HOME! Making this level is worthy of respect, anywhere! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to change my best reggae albums of 2006 list. . .
AMAZING, GO GET IT!"
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1